A federal judge in Pittsburgh set
aside the December 2003 convictions
of two people who were prosecuted for allegedly violating a federal
“securities” law. Cordez Graham, 30, his wife Crystal
Holliday, 26, and Angela Barnes, 21, were alleged to have used
counterfeit sales receipts to obtain refunds from several Bed Bath
& Beyond stores. The three were inducted for allegedly violating
United States Code Title 18 Section 2314, “Transportation of
stolen goods, securities, moneys, fraudulent State tax stamps, or
articles used in counterfeiting.”

Barnes pled guilty and agreed to testify as a friendly government
witness against Graham and Holliday in exchange for the
prosecution’s recommendation of a downward departure in her
sentence. After the conviction of her co-defendants, Barnes was
sentenced to three months imprisonment that she completed on March 16,
2004.

In a post-trial motion for a judgment of acquittal, Graham and Holliday
argued that they were convicted of a non-existent crime. They keyed on
the fact that for an item to be considered as a security under Section
2314, it must have value in and of itself and identify the owner. The
alleged counterfeit sales receipts meet neither of those criteria, and
therefore they could not be guilty of the crime they were convicted of
committing.

Senior U.S. District Judge William Standish agreed that the prosecution
had not proved the two convicted defendant’s violated Section
2314, and in late March 2004 granted the motion setting aside their
convictions. Judge Standish didn’t have to vacate their
sentences, since Graham and Holliday’s motion was post-trial and
pre-sentencing.

In his decision setting aside the couple’s convictions, Judge
Standish wrote that Angela Barnes was also entitled to have her
conviction set aside, because she had pled guilty to a non-existent
crime. His decision was issued a week after she completed her three
month prison sentence.